10. Dallas Mavericks

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesDallas probably isn't good enough to repeat as champs this year, and they didn't make any moves today.

It's already been a rough year for the Dallas Mavericks.

The team lost several key players from their championship squad of last year. They brought in Lamar Odom, but he has yet to have any sort of major impact.

Currently the team is 24-20 and in position to claim the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. They'll probably make the playoffs, but the Mavericks didn't do anything to strengthen their unimpressive squad today.

The team has clear weaknesses in the low post. They miss Tyson Chandler and Brandon Haywood, and Ian Mahimini has not provided enough to make up for Chandler's absence.

Point guard Jason Kidd is only getting older and backup guard Delonte West is not as reliable as Jose Juan Barea was last year.

Dallas didn't have enough flexibility as far as expiring contracts and cap space goes to have made an earth-shattering trade, but something might have been better than nothing.

9. Charlotte Bobcats

Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesRookie Bismack Biyombo has been a bright spot in a miserable season.

It's been a bad year in Charlotte.

There was nothing the Bobcats could do at the deadline to immediately improve their team's fortunes. The team did have a player in Boris Diaw with a cumbersome contract that the Bobcats would have loved to jettison.

8. Utah Jazz

Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThe Jazz seem to have a number of young big men such as Derrick Favors.

The Utah Jazz have a stable of promising young big men and then they also have a collection of players who aren't bad but won't be around long enough to reap the benefits of the eventual development of the younger players.

It might have made sense for the Jazz to deal some of their more tradeable assets, such as guards Devin Harris or Raja Bell.

Instead the team chose to just stand pat and do nothing. Perhaps they're hoping to hit a hot streak and sneak into the playoffs? That would be a nice story if it happened, but it's not likely. Instead the team passed up what may have been an opportunity to possibly trade for some future draft picks.

The Hawks did hand a second-round pick over to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for monetary considerations. That cash will be used to alleviate some of the luxury tax burden that plagues the team.

This season has been a peculiar one in Atlanta. The team lost center Al Horford to a season-ending injury early on. Joe Johnson has also been plagued by injuries. Yet, the team still has amassed a respectable 24-19 record and sits in position to claim the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The only problem with standing on the sidelines in their current position is that if you're not going to bother with this season, which makes sense due to the injuries, then trying to discard players and improve for next year would seem like a logical move.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers

Harry How/Getty ImagesCleveland acquired Luke Walton, who isn't that good and isn't that cheap.

The Cleveland Cavaliers approached the deadline in a good position. After all, they had a valuable and movable asset in point guard Ramon Sessions.

Surely the Cavs could turn Sessions into yet another building block on a team that has done a decent job of bouncing back from LeBron James' departure in June of 2010.

No, no they could not apparently.

What they basically did was give Sessions to the Lakers for a player who is both expensive and useless in Luke Walton. Yes, Cleveland got a first-round pick out of the deal, but it will be very late in the first round and that pick will cost the Cavs money to sign as well.

4. New Orleans Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets are supposed to be shedding salary. They had a pricey but talented center who they could have gotten rid of, but instead they'd rather entertain buying him out rather than acquiring anything at all for his services.

The Hornets had offers—apparently, they wanted a first-round pick for Chris Kaman—but as the deadline drew near, they showed signs of softening their demands. In the end Kaman remained in New Orleans.

What about Carl Landry? Landry is a solid forward who could have contributed on a contender down the stretch. Apparently, time ran out on the Hornets as they sought to deal Landry.

The Hornets really needed to, at the very least, jettison salaries at the deadline. They couldn't make it happen, though.

The Wizards were concerned that JaVale McGee would demand a ton of money as a restricted free agent this summer and bolt the team. In response to this concern they dealt McGee, who has played with maddening inconsistency this season for the Denver Nuggets.

In return the Nuggets sent the Wizards an older, more injury prone and expensive center who just happens to also be signed to a long-term contract.

The team also managed to cast aside a promising young shooting guard in Nick Young in exchange for career bench warmer Brian Cook and a second-round draft pick.

All in all the Wizards, who are ostensibly building for the future, managed to get older and limit their salary cap room down the road as well. Nice work.

The Celtics, who occupy the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, are in the midst of an eight-game road swing. It got off to a rough start when they lost to the Lakers, but since then they've won back-to-back games against the Clippers and Warriors.

Maybe that's the problem? The team isn't that bad. They're not that good either, though. With an aging trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and a dynamic young point guard in Rajon Rondo, the Celtics have an odd mix of ingredients for sustained success.

Allen and Garnett are both free agents after this season. One would think that a lot of teams would have interest in someone like Ray Allen. Many did and today the team had offers, but they never pulled the trigger on any of them.

Apparently, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge sees losing Ray Allen outright to free agency as a better move for the Celtics than actually getting something tangible in return for him before he becomes a free agent.

Then Howard flip-flopped like a fish out of water and stayed in Orlando until the end of next season. New Jersey was apparently so upset about this development that they attempted to compensate for their disappointment by executing a terrible trade with the Portland Trailblazers.

The Nets got an inconsistent and aging forward in Gerald Wallace from the Blazers and had to part with Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and a first-round pick in this summer's draft. The pick is protected, but only top three protected. That means that the Nets may have given up as high as the No. 4 overall pick in one of the deeper drafts in recent memory in exchange for a player who could be gone after this season.

The only thing this deal accomplished for New Jersey is that it gives them extra motivation to lose games down the stretch so they can actually get a top-three pick in the 2012 draft.